UT Students, Alumni Win National Award for Tennessee RiverLine Pilot Program
KNOXVILLE, TN – Three students from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, (UT) and member of the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership received a national award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
The students, Dustin Toothman (M.Arch, ‘18, L.Arch ‘20), Wes Lamberson (L.Arch, ’20), and UT alumna Whitney Brothers (B.Communications, ‘19), received an Honor Award in the Communications category of ASLA’s annual student award program for their submission, titled “652 to YOU | An Approach for a Collective Voice.” Chosen from 560 submissions, it was one of 35 award winners. A gallery featuring the 652 to YOU Pilot Community Program is available here.
“652 to YOU | An Approach for a Collective Voice” is based on the students’ roles in developing and offering the Tennessee RiverLine’s 2019 Pilot Community Program. The Pilot Community Program was a comprehensive communications and public engagement strategy developed to raise awareness of the Tennessee RiverLine vision and empower the public as a critical participant in the vision’s development, both locally and regionally. It was the first immersive community engagement program conducted by the Tennessee RiverLine that brought together and recognized early adopters of the vision.
Crafted by Toothman, Lamberson and Brothers, in collaboration with the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership, 652 to YOU’s system of events and activities allowed leaders, residents, neighbors and friends of Tennessee River communities to share their feedback and ideas for this transformative vision. While discovering new ideas for the river’s economic resilience, public health opportunities and environmental stewardship, the 652 to YOU program also built a regional dialogue around the project, creating a robust and engaged foundation of grassroots supporters invested in the Tennessee RiverLine.
The ASLA awards are the highest honor in the profession of landscape architecture, and the student awards represent the bright future of the profession, according to the ASLA website. The competition was open to all students studying or affiliated with landscape architecture.
“The Tennessee RiverLine project touches an enormous number of stakeholders and community members along 652 miles of waterway, and yet the students behind this communication effort developed meaningful ways to engage with multiple publics,” says the awards jury. “These interactions showcase the range of landscape architects for rural audiences, who may not have understood the field prior to these exercises, but now feel empowered to voice how their communities will use the river.”
The 652 to YOU Pilot Community Program was rewarding for participating communities as well as those involved with planning and implementing it. “Being able to help design and lead a program such as 652 to YOU was extremely rewarding,” states Dustin Toothman. “Often as students, we do not get to see the impact our designs have on communities; however, we were able to go into the community, speak with residents and learn about why they love the Tennessee RiverLine as much as we do. It was truly an experience I will never forget.”
“Since its inception, students have and will continue to play an essential role in the Tennessee RiverLine as the engine that drives its creative and critical initiatives,” offered Brad Collett, UT Associate Professor of Plant Sciences and member of the UT School of Landscape Architecture Faculty. “As their advisor, and as Director of the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership, it gives me great pride to see their efforts recognized by ASLA’s prestigious award program.”
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Called North America’s next great regional trail system, the Tennessee RiverLine originated in 2016 in the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Architecture and Design and UT Herbert College of Agriculture. Today, it is conducted by the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership with ongoing strong financial support from UT Knoxville and Tennessee Valley Authority.
Since the Tennessee RiverLine’s inception, the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership was founded as a diverse group of river advocates, including UT, TVA, the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program and several others, to achieve the Tennessee RiverLine vision.
To learn more about the Tennessee RiverLine, follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@tnriverline) and visit tnriverline.org frequently.
